Everyone Must Learn To Code

I’m often asked what the skills are that we need to learn to be successful in the future. Now, there’s a whole long list to answer that question, but always on my list – and always near the top of it – is all of us need to learn how to code. Yes, how to write software. We need to learn specifically how to write apps.

Now, you can go online to Google, type in: Learn to code, and you will find hundreds of courses available for you. And you should do that. You don’t have to turn this into a career. You don’t have to be the world’s best software developer. But you need to learn it for three specific reasons.

The first is it’s a mindset that we live in now in the 21st century. It’s called an If This, Then That mindset, and it’s the mindset required to think in terms of coding. This will help you understand artificial intelligence, machine learning, algorithms, and the way technology works today.

The second reason that we need to do it is: In almost all of our jobs we are going to have to interact with and connect with software developers over the next few years – software developers who are writing the algorithms that will ultimately replace part of our jobs – but the better job that we do of knowing what they’re doing and how they’re doing it, the better we are equipped to be of value to the business going forward.

And the third thing is: It’s kind of like reading, writing and arithmetic. It’s part of what is essential for all of us into the future. Sure, you did maths at school and you might never have used trigonometry or calculus again, but it’s the basics – the foundations – of our modern education.

So all of us need to learn how to code. It’s easy to do, it’s cheap; you can do it online, you can do it for fun. And if you’ve got kids at home, do it with your children. You’ll be a bit of a legend and it’s a great thing to do, kind of like building Lego was or playing computer games with your kids. Learning to code together and having fun is a new activity: more than a hobby, it’s an essential skill to help you succeed in the future.

Best language to start learning:

Java, if you don’t know where else to begin (this is the language many Android apps are written in).

HMTL / CSS if you want to learn how to program websites in particular.

Swiftly, if you want to learn an easy language to program apps for Apple iPhones and iPads.

The above lesson is the 3rd lesson in our Being Tech Savvy course in the Future of Work Academy. To sign up to receive all 3 lessons free lessons from this course enter your details below and we'll email them to you.

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